Championship Sunday was a great day of football through the intensity and all the hype leading up to it. Yesterday was the first day where both championship games went to overtime.
However, both games were tainted through questionable calls over the progression of the game, as many of the players were holding, tugging, and violently hitting players without getting calls. The most notable would be the missed pass interference or a Helmet-To-Helmet call in the late stages of the Rams-Saints game, where Nickell Robey-Coleman decked TommyLee Lewis in the helmet, without looking at the ball.
After the game, many players voiced their opinion on the call, and it seems they were all in agreement regarding the missed call. Sean Payton, in his interview after the game, stated, "It was a disappointing loss...I just got off the phone with the league office. They blew the call. It sucks".
Even Robey-Coleman after the game admitted he was gonna be called for the flag. "If I went for the ball, it would have been an entirely different story, but I just charged at the dude and hit him straight on...I hear the crowd and think, 'Dang, that's gonna be a flag', but the ref said it was tipped"
The Saints later on kicked a FG, giving the Rams 1:45 with a timeout to tie the game with a FG. If the Rams were called for that penalty, the Saints would have a 1st and Goal, with the game essentially in their hands, as the Rams only had 1 timeout to call.
Instead, the Rams hit a FG to send it to OT and later force a Drew Brees interception, putting the offense in great field position. Goff leads the team downfield and Zuerlein kicks a 57 yarder, game winning FG to upset the Saints at home.
Instead of looking at the success and mistakes the Rams fixed from their previous outing against the Saints, many will turn towards the missed call on Robey-Coleman, on how that could have changed the entire outcome of the game. Now onto the other game....
The Chiefs and Patriots was a highly anticipated shootout, as many picked the Chiefs to run away with this from the beginning. However, that was not the case in the first half, as the Patriots dominated the pace and possession, as well as pressuring Mahomes in his first year in the playoffs. It was the similar blueprint the Baltimore Ravens had against the Chiefs in the regular season.
However, the Chiefs came right back in the 2nd half, actually taking the lead at one point, until Brady and the offense storm back with a TD. With 40 seconds left, down by 3, Mahomes does his magic and gets his team in a position for Harrison Butker to kick a easy FG.
Then overtime happened. Patriots win the coin toss. Brady leads his team downfield, converting multiple 3rd down conversions, with many of his WRs catching big passes in the late stages of the game. To complete the drive, Burkhead finishes it off with a 2 yard TD to send New England to the Super Bowl, leaving the whole stadium silent and shocked, as their offense didn't even get a chance to answer.
Similar to the Saints Rams game, several people turn towards the OT rules, as the game was decided by a coin flip, instead of crediting the Patriots' success for shutting out the best offense in the league and finally able to win on the road, after going 3-5 in the regular season.
The Patriots deserve a ton of credit, given how they went into Arrowhead Stadium and holding the Chiefs offense just enough to win the game. However, just like the Rams-Saints matchup, many questionable calls were made throughout the game. The perfect word to sum up the reffing in this game: inconsistency. Brady was called for a questionable roughing the passer call, as he was grazed on the helmet, by Chris Jones. Mahomes had a similar scenario in the early stage of the game, but was not called. During a punt, Edelman initially touched the ball, and the Chiefs recover, putting themselves near the red zone. However, upon further review, there was no clear evidence that Edelman touched it, giving the ball back to the Patriots. Eventually, the Chiefs got the ball off a Brady interception, and score as a result. Chris Hogan had two questionable catches, which leads everyone back to the infamous catch rule. Travis Kelce pushed off multiple times and Eric Berry was holding Gronkowski for the majority of the game. An illegal pick play was not called, which instead led to another TD for the Chiefs
Many players around the league are distraught regarding the very poor calls in such an important game at an important time. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, he expects the NFL to go through a complete overhaul regarding referees and focus more on the updated technology.
Possibly the most important change people would ask for is the change of overtime rules. In earlier years, the game was determined by sudden death, as whoever scores first, in any manner wins. Recently, the NFL introduced a new set of rules that both teams will get a chance unless whoever scores a touchdown or a defensive score. Today, the league is driven more towards the offensive aspect. Many people are shocked on how the Chiefs didn't get a chance at all in OT, as they were just on the bench, watching Tom Brady pick apart their 31st ranked defense like a piece of cake.
It's that time of the year where many introduce their proposals on changing the OT system. Here are some ideas proposed by many of my followers on Twitter and my takes regarding them:
College OT rules: Many people want the NFL to revert back to College OT rules, as both teams get a chance to start at the opponent's 25 yard line and try to score a TD or FG. The game will continue as long as the game is tied (Defensive turnovers result in a loss of possession). Some suggested to move it back to the 50 or the opponent's 35 yard line. My take: College Football Games are always fun to watch from beginning to end, especially OT games. However, there could be situations where the game could never end and teams continue to score, which then becomes a fatigue and injury issue. It may be fun for the fans to watch two teams go at it for a long period, but for the players, not so much. In my opinion, this would probably be the best option if the NFL were to change the rules.
Play a Regular 10-15 Minute Quarter: Extend Regulation to another 10-15 minutes and whoever leads at the end wins (In playoffs, it will continue to another period). My Take: This is probably a good, yet simple, idea because teams get multiple chances to either stop the offense or score. However, similar to College OTs, it leads to much more fatigue and players could get injured easily due to how tired they are. OTs were established to break ties. With this rule, it increases the possibility of even more ties.
Revert Back To Sudden Death: Whoever scores first, wins. My Take: Like I mentioned before, the league is driven towards the offense, which would basically mean that the team who gets first possession have a huge advantage. If defense was more important than offense, I would understand, but that's not the case in today's league.
Keep it The Same: My Take: Again, I feel that it would be fair if both offenses got a chance to be on the field because of how the league is operated today. It isn't fair that a team didn't get the ball or have a chance because of a coin toss they can't control.
Here's my proposal on OT rules, so it would benefit both teams:
15 minute quarter. Both teams get possession no matter what, unless if a defensive score occurs. If score is still tied, it will go into sudden death (whoever scores first wins). That way both the offense and defense aren't left out completely. During Playoffs, regulation will extend if score is still tied after 15 minute quarter.
There's about a 99% chance my proposal will never be selected, but if the NFL were to change the OT system, college OT or a proposal similar to mine would be the best bet.
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